


You are the best thing

by flyingisabetterwordforfalling (FlyingFalling)



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Canonical Character Death, Childbirth, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Families of Choice, Family Bonding, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Grog is good with children, Parent-Child Relationship, Post-Canon, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD (symptoms mentioned)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-31
Updated: 2019-01-31
Packaged: 2019-10-19 20:48:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,604
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17608703
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FlyingFalling/pseuds/flyingisabetterwordforfalling
Summary: "As if on cue, there was finally the faint sound of a newborn's cries, and Grog worriedly turned to the door keeping him from the rest of his family. Kaylie's hand was already grabbing for his, her smaller one not managing to embrace his. And yet it was the sole reason that kept him from crashing right through the wall."





	You are the best thing

**Author's Note:**

> After the last two episodes I needed to write some fluff, and then I could not get the image of an excited uncle Grog out of my head who dots on every possible Vox Machina child he might get to babysit.   
> The title is, due to my lack of creativity when it comes to titles by Ray LaMontagne's song with the same name and as such part of Sam's playlist for Scanlan.  
> This is also my first Critical Role fic and I am not sure if I got the characterisation of everyone right. Still, I hope you enjoy reading this. :)

For most of the day Grog, just like his best friend, had been waiting for Pike to let him into her quarters again. Well, not completely like his best friend. Scanlan had come out of the room once in a while so he could tell Grog how his adopted sister was doing. Moments later, only after making sure that Grog was alright he would be joining his wife's side again. Never actually leaving her for only a second longer than he had to. Despite having been married for years, Pike and Scanlan were still totally sweet on one another.   
  
And if they were not his favorite people, even Grog would have been annoyed by now. As it was, he had had to leave the room. Mostly because he had almost fainted upon witnessing the very beginning of the birth process. There had been so much blood already, at least too much in his opinion, considering how tiny Pike was. She might be the toughest person he knew and yet Grog had panicked at the sight.  
  
Even without the blood and following screams, just seeing Pike in pain nearly broke Grog's heart. The healers, Scanlan and even Pike herself had tried to reassure him that she would be alright in the end. Still, he could not bear watching her in pain without being able to do anything to fix it. He knew that births were just like that, considering Vex had gone through this process several times by now. According to Percy she had even been cursing throughout the entirety birth of their first children, and had even managed to break his hand.  
  
All his lady friends, and everyone being able to carry little ones deserved some kind of medal if anyone were to ask Grog. They were tough as nails, every single one of them. All the same he knew that Pike would need to rest for a while after everything was done, at least according to one of the healers. Grog had been almost out the door when the healer had stopped him, one hand patting his, when he was told that his adopted sister would need some shuteye. At the time he had almost been breathing normally again, only for his heartbeat to quicken once more.   
  
The off-handedly spoken words had obviously been meant as a comfort and yet Grog had visibly cringed, caught up in memories he usually drowned out. Sometimes -and only ever if he was not around his family and could not get to them before the onslaught of memories got worse- with booze. Grog knew that he was not the smartest guy around but that did not mean that he was not aware of mortality. Everyone he loved had more or less died and come back somehow, mostly due to the stubbornness of their ragtag family. He knew there was a chance that he might lose each and every one of them during  battles yet to come. Or the one of childbirth.  
  
Amongst the turmoil Scanlan's daughter had been one of the few who had noticed his reaction. Carefully stepping beside him, so as to gently pull him with her and out of sight of the weakened form of one of the people he loved the most. Neither of them was especially fond of having to wait for the relieving words of a healer that everything would be alright.   
  
He did not thank her for her small gesture of kindness and she would not have appreciated it either way. So they sat mostly in silence, Grog not having to wait on his own with Kaylie keeping him company for the remaining hours until the babe was born.   
  
During the pregnancy Scanlan's daughter had been acting as if she could not care less that she would get a younger sibling rather sooner than later. She had been going as far as stating that her father might have even more kids he did not know of already running around. Still, despite her harsh words Kaylie had been smiling when she said so. It did not matter if she was being as sarcastic as usual or not , since she still hid most of her true emotions behind her wry sense of humor.   
  
There was always some hidden truth underneath everything else regardless of what she did say, and her family knew Kaylie well enough to discover its share. Thus, upon her declaration Pike had taken the younger woman's hands into hers, brushing over Kaylie's still rather short hair in the way she always did and gently kissed her cheek. Usually Kaylie was not one for overtly emotional greetings, but for once she put her arms around her step-mother when the later eventually asked if Kaylie intended to stay with them. No matter what she might answer they would always have a room or several ready for her should she ever intend to stay. For a while or for good, it was and always would be her choice.

Kaylie had been silent then, hiding her face in the crock of Pike's neck, so that no one could see the tears in her eyes. She had leaned back, as if aware that everyone was watching them, awkwardly coughing a few times. All while trying and failing to hide her affection. Then, to everyone's surprise she had decided to stay until after her sibling was born, maybe even longer than that.   
  
As if on cue, there was finally the faint sound of a newborn's cries, and Grog worriedly turned to the door keeping him from the rest of his family. Kaylie's hand was already grabbing for his, her smaller one not managing to embrace his. And yet it was the sole reason that kept him from crashing right through the wall.   
  
"The crying 's alright, big guy. Means the little one's got our father's earsplitting pipes. Will probably never stop talking though."  
  
Immediately after the sound ceased, an utterly out of breath -as if he had been the one giving birth instead of his wife- and yet beaming Scanlan tore open the door. He quickly ushered the two of them inside before Kaylie, who was still acting as if she was not as nervous as everyone around her could even think of resisting. Scanlan seemed happy enough despite being as white as a sheet, paired with an unfamiliar and yet joyous tremble to his step.

"Hello." Pike greeted the newcomers, looking completely exhausted with beads of sweat and a weak smile adorning her face just like her husband's. While Scanlan seemed to beam she appeared to radiate pure happiness while simply holding the little bundle close to her heart. "Please, meet our daughter, Wilgard."  
  
While Grog simply gawked at the newborn in child-like wonder, Kaylie smirked. She was obviously once more trying to hide the tears filling her eyes at the sight of her sibling, with the declaration that the babe better be the last one. Moments later she groaned in feigned horror when Scanlan simply winked exaggeratedly at his wife. For once he thankfully he did not do anything else. Which might have made his wife blush if she were not Pike Trickfoot. Instead Pike chuckled lightly and held up the small bundle in her arms, her newborn daughter, in an open invitation for either one of them to hold her.

"You made this one?"

Everyone expect Grog himself grinned at his sudden question; mainly because the excess of his enthusiasm which had been resonating in every word he had spoken was once again as contagious as it usually was. The fear, worry and near panic long forgotten.

Scanlan lightly shook his head when Kaylie moved to step out of the way, while Grog almost immediately launched himself at the bed Pike and Wilgard were resting in. The bed noticeably creaked at the suddenly added weight of a goliath trying to take up as little space as possible. While doing so Grog was awkwardly folding himself next to his oldest friend and her newborn child.   
  
Once he stopped shifting around his two best friends' daughter looked up at him, making a curious noise.  Wilgard had taken her sweet time and despite the pain she had unwittingly caused her mother, Pike had obviously been touched by her family's concern. Concern which had eventually resulted in everyone running around, carrying blankets and trying to make her more comfortable. That was up until Pike had eventually gotten fed up, and personally kicked most of them out while more or less already being in labor.    

Now Kaylie was not so subtly trying to stay out of arm's reach when Pike nodded in her direction. She was well aware of the almost jealous huff that turned into a content hum when Pike handed her daughter over to Grog instead. It was not at all strange that her husband would get to hold the little one only after her best friend and adopted brother. Pike and Scanlan had secretly promised one another that he would get to hold the child, the one after Wilgard, before anyone else would. Of course she was not pregnant yet, but they would certainly change that in the near future. Not that the rest of their family knew of their future family planning and that particular promise yet.  
  
Maybe they would adopt rather than try for another child. There had been a tang of bitter truth behind Kaylie's words about lots of children running around, with neither a mother nor a father or any other kind of parental figure. Honestly, it was concerning just how many children needed parents. For now Pike would still rather concentrate on her daughter, who was now curiously blinking up at her uncle. Both of them regarding the other with clear curiosity before the newborn closed her eyes again.   
  
"She's so tiny." Grog remarked, trying to hold Wilgard like Vex had shown him with her own children. Still, the little one was a gnome and so much smaller than an infant that was part human and elf. Grog rocked her a little, carefully supporting her head with just a finger, which almost covered her entire head. He held her without glancing away even once when Wilgard blinked, and her dark eyes met his again. The few tufts of her hair were as white as her mother's.   
  
"She's beautiful."   
  
Kaylie whispered, as if afraid of startling her little sister. She almost had to stand on the tips of her toes to still be able to watch her when Grog lifted the baby a little higher to gently blow onto her tiny fingers. By doing so he repeated something that little Elly as well as her twin Freddy used to immensely enjoy when they had been around Wilgard's age.    
  
By now, Freddy was as mischievous as the uncle he had partly been named after. Growing up he would maybe even look more and more like him. Even now he refused to cut his hair and at every chance he got, he tried to persuade his parents into letting him adopt a pet raven. The similarities did not stop there: According to Percy, his son had even inherited his mother's and uncle's smirk, as well as all of Vox Machina's penchant for getting into trouble. Grog was not sure heredity worked that way.   
  
However, Grog simply adored each and every single one of the little ones. He did not care if they were his or not. They were family even without having to be related by blood.  
  
Pike leaned back into her cushions, simply watching her loved ones. Up until a few hours ago she had not been sure about the actual name of her first child. Scanlan and her had been so sure that it might be a little boy and they had chosen names that were rather dear to both of them: Wilhand and Vax'ildan. They had been arguing about the last name though, since neither of them wanted the other to give up theirs. In the end, Pike and Scanlan simply kept theirs and merged it to Shortfoot as their child's last name. That did not stop Scanlan from introducing himself as Scanlan Trickfoot wherever he went, beaming with joy whenever he got to brag about being married to the amazing Pike Trickfoot.  
  
Then, quite obviously, their daughter had been born and they had no name for her. Thus, for almost ten minutes they had been arguing about not simply naming her Wilhand regardless of her gender. Names were just that, in Scanlan's opinion and the meaning would stay the same and yet Pike had wanted a name that actually fit their little girl as her own.

In their family the once upon a time harsh question of 'What's my mother's name?' had become somewhat of a morbid inside joke.  Well, at least ever since Vex and Percy had named their first daughter Juniper. Maybe even out of spite because her full name was Johanna Juniper and her family mostly called her JJ, but still. Thus, Pike eventually had to put her foot down so that not every child would not be named after either one of Vox Machina's late mothers. It was well meant, but in her opinion names could be a burden if you were named after adventurers who had slowly but surely become heroes, no matter if they had wanted to or not.   
  
Pike could not wait for Keyleth's reaction once she learned that Wilgard's middle name would be Kiki, though. It was not meant as naming her child after a hero, but after someone special. Someone who was not only special to her but someone who was one of her as well as her husband's dearest friends, and had thus had long ago become part of their chosen family.  

Eventually Grog let go of Wilgard and handed the little one currently in his hands over to her father. She crinkled up her face upon being handed over, and not just Pike but also Kaylie barely hid their amusement at Scanlan's immediate expression of utter disbelief when his daughter started whining. Before Scanlan could even react Kaylie was already patting her sister's head, a bit awkwardly though and yet the baby stopped fussing almost immediately.    
  
"By the gods, she loves you more than me already."    
  
Instead of answering Grog simply smiled, nodding in earnest.   
  
"While I love all of you, very much so, don't get any ideas." Pike interrupted before either one of her family - in which every single one was always keen to debate - could begin an argument. Or rather one that would probably last way longer than anyone was willing to listen to. Especially not Pike. She had had a long enough day as it was.   
  
Scanlan and Grog snapping at one another that they would surely become her little girl's favorite person in the near future was nothing she was all too interested in witnessing. At least not right now, however, it might actually become quite amusing in the future. Considering the way Kaylie looked at her little sister already, Pike did not have to guess which family member, despite herself of course, would dot on Wilgard the most. Most of them had once upon a time not been used to having such a big and loving family and somehow they had found one another.    
  
They were hers and she was theirs and together Vox Machina was more than a group of friends and allies who had fought and lived through the worst together. And despite everything that had happened and might still happen,  Pike would not have her family any other way.

**Author's Note:**

> If anyone's interested, here are the more or less full names I've chosen for the children: 
> 
> Wilgard = Wilgard Kiki Shortfoot OC daughter of Pike and Scanlan (named after Keyleth and Wilhand Trickfoot, (from Old High German = willio = spirit/will/determination and Old Icelandic = gerd = containment/safeguard) and I thought the name was rather fitting for a child of these two) 
> 
> Elly = Elaina Vex'ahlia de Rolo, OC daughter of Vex and Percy (named after Vex's mother)
> 
> Freddy = Frederickstein Percival de Rolo, OC son of Vex and Percy (named after Percy's father)


End file.
